Leaving a Smaller Footprint

Every trip leaves a certain footprint, and acknowledging this is
crucial for sustainability.

Last edited 26/04/2017

Hurtigruten has taken an active role in the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), whose aim is to secure a safe and environmentally aware tourism industry in the unique and fragile environment in Antarctica.

Hurtigruten’s subsidiary Hurtigruten Svalbard has been actively involved in establishing the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO), which includes the cruise industry’s activities in Greenland and Svalbard. Since 2007 Hurtigruten has been an active member, today the largest financial contributor in this important cooperation for sustainable travel in the Arctic.

The AECO Community Guidelines for visiting Northern Norway and High Arctic can be viewed here.

Clean Up Svalbard is an eco-initiative that helps keep the natural environment of Svalbard as clean as possible. In recent years, marine pollution has become recognised as a major problem for the world’s oceans. Therefore, Hurtigruten invite our guests to participate in cleaning the beaches.

Fuel

Reducing fuel consumption one of our most important environmental tasks. No ship from Hurtigruten use heavy fuel oil. Our ships on the coastal routes use low sulphur SDM (Special Distillate Marine), and our explorer ship MS Fram uses an even more eco-friendly fuel, Marine Gas Oil. We always strive to reduce our emissions, and will continue exploring every possible opportunity that could be beneficial for the environment.

Energy-Efficient Propellers

Changing propellers have a huge impact both on propulsion and fuel consumption. Measurements after changing propeller on MS Richard With indicated an annual reduction up to 10%. New propellers were then fitted to MS Nordnorge in late December 2014, and MS Kong Harald and MS Nordkapp are in the pipeline.

In the last few years our fuel reduction initiatives have resulted in a significant reduction (L/nm):

92

86

83

81

2011

2012

2013

2014

Research

Together with Ocean Visuals we contribute to continuous real-time oil surveillance along the Norwegian coast. With a hyper spectral laser installed on board MS Midnatsol we can detect even the smallest oil spil both while sailing and during port calls. We also collaborate with a wide range of scientific communities both nationally and internationally, providing important knowledge and information about the Arctic and Antarctica.

Daily Presence in Waters

Hurtigruten is unique for its 122 years of unbroken sailing along theNorwegian coast. This provides research institutes with an opportunity to harvest accumulated data from our ships.

A prime example is the thermographic data gathered by the Institute of Marine Research (IMR). Our contribution has been vital in ensuring that the Institute of Marine Research now possesses perhaps the longest climaterelated time series in the world. The data are used to monitor and assess environmental conditions along he Norwegian coast.

Hurtigruten also have a strong partnership with The Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA). In 2014, NIVA installed a Ferrybox-system on MS Trollfjord, which they in 2006 also introduced on MS Vesterålen in cooperation with IMR.

The majority of Norwegian fish farm facilities are located along the coastal stretch from Bergen to Kirkenes. Therefore, the Ferrybox system among other purposes plays an important role in alerting about changes in the water environment, such as temperature fluctuations, freshwater inflow and toxic algae blooms. Information from the Ferreybox-system is also vital component used in the implementation of the EU water Framework Directive to ensure the quality of satellite data and in an ocean acidification project.

Arctic Wildlife

Hurtigruten is a participant in the Norwegian Polar Institute’s project to register marine mammals in the Arctic. Gathering this data improves insight of habitat use and seasonal migration patterns and is also used in The Environmental Monitoring of Svalbard.

Fun fact:

From 21 July to 21 August 2014 the expedition team on MS Fram observed 52 Polar Bears on Svalbard.